The smuggling of sugar through the Torkham border in Khyber continues unabated, as customs and border officials are allegedly involved in clearing containers of sugar as urea. The sugar mafia, led by Jahangir Tareen, had been banned from importing sugar by the previous government, which had ordered the return of 150 containers of sugar.
However, the current government has reportedly allowed the same mafia to resume importing and smuggling sugar. The containers of sugar are being sent to Afghanistan without any checks or stops. The involvement of senior officials in the smuggling racket is being exposed.
The Torkham border is one of the major trade routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and also a hotspot for smuggling activities. According to sources, the customs and border officials are facilitating the sugar smugglers by issuing fake documents and invoices, and allowing them to pass through the checkpoints without any inspection. The smuggled sugar is then sold in the Afghan market at higher prices, causing a loss of revenue to the Pakistani exchequer and a shortage of sugar in the domestic market.
The sugar smuggling scandal has been going on for months, despite the repeated warnings and directives from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Prime Minister’s Office. The FBR had launched a crackdown against sugar smuggling in April 2023, and recovered thousands of parcels of sugar from various vehicles on the Quetta-Sindh-Punjab highway. The FBR had also intercepted a smuggled consignment of sugar en route from JDW Group’s sugar mills to Quetta at a toll booth in October 2023. However, these actions have failed to curb the illegal trade, as the smugglers have found new ways to evade detection and prosecution.
The sugar mafia is said to be backed by powerful political and business interests, including Jahangir Tareen, a former close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Tareen owns JDW Group, one of the largest sugar producers in Pakistan, which has been accused of inflating prices, evading taxes, and manipulating stocks. Tareen was also implicated in the wheat and sugar crisis report that was released by the government in April 2020, which revealed massive irregularities and corruption in the sugar industry. Tareen was later disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court on charges of insider trading.
The government had imposed a ban on sugar imports in 2020, after facing public outcry over the soaring prices and shortages of sugar. However, in 2023, the government lifted the ban and allowed the import of 500,000 tonnes of sugar to meet the domestic demand. The government also announced a subsidy of Rs 5.70 per kg on imported sugar to keep the prices stable. However, critics have alleged that this decision was taken to benefit the sugar mafia, who have been importing cheap sugar from India and Brazil, and smuggling it to Afghanistan for higher profits.
The smuggling of sugar has not only affected the economy and the consumers, but also posed a security threat to the country. According to reports, some of the smuggled sugar is being used to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by militant groups operating in Afghanistan³⁴. The IEDs are then used to target Pakistani security forces and civilians along the border areas.